Former Bayern defender Breno jailed for arson

PanARMENIAN.Net - Brazilian former Bayern Munich defender Breno, 22, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison by a Munich court on Wednesday after being found guilty of setting fire to his own house last year, AFP reports.

Breno, whose full name is Vinicius Rodrigues Borges, was found to have started the fire that almost totally destroyed his luxury house in the Munich suburb of Gruenewald on September 20, 2011.

He was believed to have been drunk at the time.

During the trial, Breno did not reveal whether the fire -- which caused damage worth an estimated one million euros ($1.3m) - had been started deliberately but did apologize.

Prosecutors had wanted a sentence of five-and-a-half years, while the Brazilian's lawyers asked for a two-year suspended sentence to be imposed.

German media said that he had seen a doctor at a psychiatric clinic at the request of his club the day before he was questioned about the fire.

Breno escaped the fire with slight smoke inhalation but was otherwise uninjured. His wife, their son and two other children from his previous relationship were not at the house at the time. Breno was called up by the Brazilian national time for the first time in 2011.

He made just 13 appearances for Bayern in season 2010/11 and did not play a single game last season as he struggled to overcome a knee injury and has since left the club after his contract expired.